Portable carrying case or envelope



May 12, 1959 H. H. SANGER PORTABLE CARRYING CASE OR ENVELOPE Filed June 5, 1957 FIG. 4;

INVENTOR. HERBERT H. SANGEK ATTOlZ/VEK United States Patent O PORTABLE CARRYING CASE OR ENVELGPE Herbert H. Sanger, New York, N.Y.

Application June 3, 1957, Serial No. 663,287

1 Claim. (Cl. 150-1.6)

This invention relates to portable carrying cases, and more particularly, to an expansion type carrying case that may be constructed from a single sheet of flexible material.

Many types of portable expansion carrying cases `are provided with expandable gussets at each side, which permit the case to expand as it is lled. In various types of briefcases and portfolios, such gussets are placed at the bottom, as well as at the sides, so as to provide a more uniform expansion and neater appearance. However, it has been found that in normal use, limited expansion of the bottom gusset is sufficient to permit the case to accommodate substantially the same amount of material that is provided by the addition of the side gussets. It has also been found that by eliminating the side gussets, a single sheet of flexible material can be arranged in such a way so as to provide a carrying case with bottom pleats and top closure in a simple and etlicient manner.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a portable expansion carrying case having an expandable pleated bottom section and top closure that is simple in construction, convenient for carrying a substantially large quantity of material in an etlicient manner, and which provides a neat and attractive appearance.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a portable expansion carrying case requiring a minimum amount of material and labor for its construction, requiring a minimum amount of space when not in use, and providing a sufiicient expansion `at the bottom thereof to accommodate a relatively large amount of material.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a portfolio having a pleated bottom portion and completely sealed sides, in which the contents are inserted through a top closure, and the pleated portion of the portfolio expanding from a substantially flat position to accommodate relatively large quantities of material therein.

All of the foregoing and still further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a portable expansion carrying case made in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the carrying case shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4` is an end view of the case shown in Fig. 1.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, a portable expansion type carrying case is shown to'be constructed from a single rectangular sheet of flexible material. While substantially any type of flexible material may be used, various types of thermoplastic materials have been found to be particularly suited to this con- 2,886,085 Patented May 12, 1959 struction in that the free ends thereof may be conveniently heat-sealed in a manner hereinafter described.

In manufacturing the carrying case 10, a plurality of longitudinally spaced laterally extending fold lines are made at approximately the mid-portion of the rectangular sheet. The fold lines are such that a plurality of accordion-type folds or pleats 14 are provided which will lie along the bottom edge of the carrying case when the front and back sides 16, 18, respectively, are folded upwardly in the manner shown in Fig. 3.. The fold lines are also arranged so that the upper edge 17 of the front side lies a short distance below the upper edge 19 of the rear side 18. With the respective portions in the aforementioned relationship, the lateral edges of the front and back sides and the pleats are fastened together, such as by heat treatment to provide vertically extending parallel side seams 20. To further reinforce the lower corners, an additional heat sealed line 20a is provided `toextend from the bottom edge of the case 10 upwardly to the top edges of the pleats 14. The

closure strips 21 of a suitable slide fastener 22 may also t a thermoplastic material, any suitable llexible material may be used, whereupon the seams may be made in accordance with other conventional methods, such as by sewing and the like.

In use, it will be noted that any material placed within the case 10 will be readily accommodated between the sides without any noticeable expansion. However, when bulky items or an unusually large quantity of material is placed within the case, the bottom pleats will expand so as to accommodate such articles. Ordinarily, however, this type of carrying case will be used for small quantities of material so that no expansion will ordinarily be required. Thus, the carrying case can be used for substantially the same purposes as those provided with side gussets while the amount of material and labor required for manufacturing this case is substantially reduced. Therefore, a portable carrying case made in accordance with the presentinvention readily lends itself to large scale economical production methods.

While this invention has been described with particular reference to the construction shown in the drawing, it is to be understood that such is not to be construed as imparting limitations upon the invention, which is best defined by the claim appended hereto.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

A portable expansion carrying case comprising, in combination, a rectangular sheet of flexible material, a plurality of fold lines forming expansion pleats intermediate the longitudinal extremities of said sheet, said pleats dividing said sheet into a front side having a top edge and a bottom edge and two lateral edges and a rear side,

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,401,109 Rohdin May 28, 1946 2,613,421 Madsen Oct. 14, 1952 2,772,712 Post Dec. 4, 1956 

